100-year-old Brooklyn math teacher who refuses to retire says she ‘can’t sit back and do nothing’

BROOKLYN (PIX11) — For most of us, hearing about your birthday on the radio is a seldom occurrence.

However, in the case of Brooklyn math teacher Madeline Scotto, it’s pretty much warranted.

“This is very exciting!” Scotto said as she and her daughter Michelle crowded around a radio in a quaint living room, listening to a news report honoring her birthday.

Mrs. Scotto is celebrating a milestone turning 100 years old. What’s even more incredible, she is still part of the workforce, working as a math instructor at Saint Ephrem’s Elementary School in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn.

“You know I’m into math so I actually sat down one day and did [the math] with pencil and paper,” Scotto told PIX11 News, admitting she just couldn’t wrap her head around turning 100. “I couldn’t believe it.”